Tipping Point
by haggledore
Summary: Highschool AU. A drunken night leaves Tony and Loki waking up next to eachother, totally naked and having no idea how they got there. Neither of them know the other and all they really want to do is forget. But when they get back to school, they are thrown together again. This can either be the best or worst desicion ever but either way, it has disasterous results. FrostIron.
1. Chapter 1

_This is my new story and it's my first multi-chapter AU so sorry if I totally fail. It's called a Highschool AU but I'm actually going by English schools and how they work. Loki and Tony are in year 13 or the last year of sixthform when people do A-Levels before they go on to university. If it doesn't make sense then I'm sorry but please read and I hope you enjoy it. FrostIron will come later and so will the sexy stuff (and because I'm writing from an English perspective, they are legal to have sex so it's all good) This is supposed to be a fun story but with all fanfiction will be angsty and sad at points. Anyway I'll stop rambling now and let you read on..._

* * *

Chapter 1

The first thing he knew when he awoke was that his head ached. Ached was actually an understatement. His head was pounding so badly that he thought his brain might explode. Light streamed through the small crack in his curtains. Even though it wasn't much, the brightness still hurt and he rolled over, screwing his eyes shut and grumbling in disapproval.

That was about the exact moment when he felt something shift next to him. At first he paid little attention, preferring to keep his eyes shut and try to doze off again. Then he felt more movement. His eyes snapped open as suddenly bleary memories started to worm their way into the front of his mind.

Slowly he turned his head to the side and found a pair of green eyes staring at him. For the life of him, Tony couldn't remember who this stranger was. Had he even asked his name the night before? Why the hell was this random man even in his bed? Ever so slowly, Tony lifted up the sheet that was covering him and looked under it. Great. Fully naked.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he looked back at the stranger who was now staring at the ceiling, seemingly in shock. Either that or he was just really fascinated with the whitewashed ceiling. Tony highly doubted it.

The stranger, who still hadn't yet spoken, abruptly sat up and turned his back to Tony. He reached down to the floor and started to get dressed. It took him some time to locate his shirt and shoes but after they were found, he quickly put them on. This time it took him even longer to look for whatever he was looking for. The whole while the man searched, Tony just watched him, still too stunned to process exactly what was going on.

"Er do you need a hand," Tony offered.

"I'm fine," The stranger replied, suddenly bending down and moving Tony's own shirt aside. He picked up whatever lay underneath, a phone, and proceeded to leave the room without another word. About a minute later Tony heard the familiar sound of his front door opening and closing.

He let out a strangled groan and buried his head into his pillow. This was not good. This was not good at all. He couldn't even properly remember what had happened the night before except that there had been an abundance of alcohol. He didn't even know this stranger's name or anything about him.

Groaning even louder, he got up and stumbled into the bathroom. He turned on the tap and gulped down some water before fumbling through a cupboard and pulling out some painkillers. He swallowed them and crawled back into bed, waiting for them to kick in.

Was his life over? He wasn't sure at that present moment. Was he in some deep shit that he didn't quite know the extent of yet? Most likely. Was this going to come back and bite him in the ass? Most definitely. Did he need to call Clint? Hell bloody yes.

* * *

**The Night Before **

"Look Pep don't you think you're overreacting just a bit?"

"Overreacting!" Pepper all but shouted. "You were dying to get your hand under her skirt, and don't even try to tell me that what you were talking about was totally platonic because I could see the way she was looking at you. She was ready to jump on you."

Tony laughed. "Well that's not my fault if she can't resist my charm. I can't just turn it off Pep." He smiled at that.

Apparently it was the total wrong thing to say and do. "Do you even care about this relationship Tony? Are you even trying to make this work?"

"Okay you need to calm down," Tony tried, reaching forward to touch her arm. She took a step back so she was firmly out of reach. He quickly retracted his hand. "I made a mistake. Yeah I spoke to her and knew her intentions weren't exactly innocent. Yeah I should've walked away but I didn't. I made a mistake. But at least I didn't sleep with her, I didn't even touch her. And you wanna know the reason why? Because of you Pepper, I'm dating you and I don't want anyone else."

Pepper stared at him hard for a few seconds, not blinking. It looked to Tony like she was having an inner war with herself of whether she should forgive him or not. He could understand why she wouldn't want to. He was an idiot but unfortunately that was just his way. He made mistakes without even considering the consequences. However, he did want to be forgiven. This was Pepper. She was the only person so far in his life that had managed to keep him fairly stable and had been kind and understanding and had looked past his fame and fortune. She was too precious to lose over something so stupid.

In a way though, he knew they were drifting apart. They just weren't working as well as they used to. He consistently made more mistakes and it was only a matter of time before she would stop forgiving. There was only so much bullshit one person could take.

"Tony," Pepper sighed. "God Tony you're such an idiot," She suddenly cried, tears in her eyes but a small smile playing on her lips. "I have no idea why I put up with you."

"Neither do I but I'm glad you do," Tony laughed, pulling her close.

This time she didn't object to his touch and allowed herself to be pulled in for a kiss that would probably be frowned upon if they were to do it in public. But behind closed doors, or rather the closed door of Tony's bedroom, they were free to do whatever they wanted. They were only there because Tony had forced Pepper to come with him so as to prevent her rage explosion in public.

"So you're coming to the party tonight right? Rhodey's gunna be there to make sure it won't get too out of hand so you don't need to worry."

"Yeah I'll be there," Pepper said. "Although I don't see why you're having it, it's the start of the school year Tony. It's not like it's actual new year or the end of school."

"Well it's the beginning of our last year at school so I just wanted to start it right."

"Whatever. I've got to go but I'll see you later, I'll get here around nine."

"I look forward to it," Tony said, following Pepper to the door and watching as she walked down the stairs. "Oh and wear something hot," He called after her.

(Some hours later)

By this time the party was in full swing. The music was blasting out so loudly that anyone within a half mile radius could probably hear it word for word. No one seemed too bothered though as almost everyone was far too drunk, both on alcohol and on the atmosphere. The sun had set so it was up to the hundreds of tiny lights winding their way around everything to light the outside of the house as brightly as possible. On the inside of the house, all the lights were off but the strobe lights from the DJ in the corner of the huge living room was giving off enough light that no one seemed to worry if they couldn't see well enough to know exactly who they were dancing with.

Tony was blindly dancing with whoever decided to rub their body against his. He took a huge swig from his cup that was a mixture of far too many different types of alcohol it was hard to identify which specific ones. He had probably drunk too much already but this was his party and who was to tell him what he could and could not do? Rhodey wasn't going to shout at him. That was one of the perks of having a cool adoptive guardian.

Still, yes he had probably had too much considering that his vision was beginning to blur and he could no longer focus on something without a serious struggle that caused his head to hurt. He felt a body press against his own again and this time he pushed up with his hips, a little more forceful than was probably necessary. The girl seemed to understand what he wanted and she pushed back again, grinding her ass against his crotch along with the heavy beat of the music blasting overhead.

He lost track of time as he danced with her. He didn't even know her name or even if she went to his school. Apparently he didn't care. Not until he heard a loud shout of range and he was suddenly grabbed by the arm and dragged outside, where only the people who weren't drinking were hanging out or the people who were too busy making out and wanted somewhere more quiet than the overly loud and crowded house to do it.

"I trusted you. God Tony I am such an idiot, you just can't be trusted to not run off wi-"

"Hey Pepper," Tony interrupted. "Pepper will you calm down."

"Why should I Tony? This is the second time today. If you were in my position then maybe you would understand how it feels."

At this point Tony was painfully aware that everyone outside the house had their attention firmly fixed on him. The alcohol was still clouding his brain and he couldn't quite process exactly what was happening. He wanted to comfort Pepper. He wanted to reassure her but his brain and mouth just wouldn't work in unison.

"It's a party Pep, people get pissed and do dumb things."

"Is this you trying to make an excuse? Because it's pathetic. No Tony, don't touch me," She snapped, taking several steps back from him. A sudden saddened expression crossed her face and her voice softened as she spoke again. "Look, I'm sorry but I just can't do this anymore. I'm can't be in a relationship with someone that continually breaks my trust."

"What? Is this you breaking up with me? Come on Pepper, please. You can't."

"I can Tony and I am. See you at school."

And with that she marched off, disappearing from sight almost instantly as she entered the house.

"Fuck," he muttered, then his voice increased to a shout. "Fucking shit FUCK!" He glanced around, glaring at everyone that made eye contact with him. "What the fuck are you looking at?"

They all averted their gazes after that, gathering into tight circles and sharing in whispered conversations that were no doubt about Tony and what just transpired. Tony let out a frustrated sound and walked back inside, determined to get totally drunk so that he wouldn't even remember what just happened. As he made his way through the door, he couldn't ignore a pair of eyes that still hadn't left him. Glancing back, he saw those eyes dart to the ground. Shaking his head, Tony got himself another drink and downed it in one gulp before pouring another.

After that point the night became a total blur of more dancing and more alcohol and more music. The hours flashed by and he soon found himself collapsing into bed, not totally aware of the fact that he wasn't alone under the covers.

* * *

He opened his eyes and from the first moment he did he knew there was something wrong. Whether it was the strong smell of alcohol, his headache, or the fact that he had no idea where he was, he wasn't sure. Rolling over he was met with the sight of someone sleeping next to him. Fuck. A few seconds passed where he just stared dumbstruck at the stranger then a shiver ran through him. At first he wondered why he was cold and then it hit him. He was naked. Double fuck.

Loki brushed his hair back, letting out a soft breath to calm himself. Right. So what was the best thing to do? Get up, get dressed, leave, try to forget this ever happened. Seemed simple enough. Unfortunately, just as he started to move, the man stirred next to him. Their eyes met and the other groaned. Yes, it was definitely time to leave.

Hurriedly, he got dressed and left the room, only speaking when the other asked if he needed a hand in finding his phone. He walked down the stairs that were almost directly opposite the room he had just exited and found the front door. Without looking back, he closed the door and took a deep gulp of the fresh morning air.

Okay, so he had made a mistake, he thought to himself as he began walking down the road, it could happen to anyone. He didn't even know the man. Just when he was about to take another step, he froze, looking back to the house he had just left. Well not a house, more a mansion. A mansion that could only belong to one person. And that one person was the host of the party that he had attended the night before. Tony Stark. Yeah this could never just happen to anyone. This was fates work and she really was being a right bitch at the moment, Loki thought, carrying on down the street, heading in the direction of his own home.

"Loki? Is that you?" His mother called from the kitchen as soon as he opened the front door.

"Yes."

"Where on earth have you been?" She asked, walking over to him. "Thor came home after the party last night and said you were nowhere to be found. He tried calling you, I tried calling you as well but you didn't answer."

He had to think fast. "My...er phone ran out of charge. I stayed round a friends, you remember Natasha?"

"Oh yes, now you've transferred school I'm assuming you'll be seeing a lot more of her."

"Yeah, well that's the plan. Anyway, I'm going to take a shower and..."

He didn't need to think up another reason as he was already halfway up the stairs, leaving his mother standing smiling in the hallway. As soon as he was in his room, he shut the door and threw himself down on his bed. He whipped out his phone, which was not out of charge, and dialled Natasha's number.

"What the hell happened to you? One minute you were there and the next you were gone, I couldn't find you anywhere," the annoyed voice grumbled down the line.

"Sorry, something happened. Well I think something did but I can't remember, still I have a massive problem!"

"Oh god what the hell happened Loki? You didn't love and leave some girl who is now saying she's pregnant with your kid, did you?"

"What? NO!" Loki couldn't help but laugh. "Well not quite, I woke up in someone's bed...fully naked."

"Who was she?"

"Um...he, Natasha, and he was...Tony Stark."

The line was silent for some time. Just the sound of her soft breathing could be heard.

"Yep, you're screwed."

* * *

_Okay so I hope you liked this first chapter. I'm not sure when the second will be up because I haven't written it all yet but hopefully it will be soon. If you enjoyed this please comment, favourite and follow! Thankyou :)_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So you like seriously have no idea who this kid was?"

Tony sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that day. It was the first day back at school, it was a Monday, he had boring classes and Clint would not stop bothering him about what happened on the night of the party. He had told him almost ten times now that he couldn't remember much except that Pepper had broken up with him and he had got totally pissed and had woken up next to some stranger.

"No, I have never seen him before in my life. He definitely wasn't a kid though, he looked our age."

"And he didn't say anything? He didn't leave his number or his underwear?"

"What the hell? No!" Tony cried, staring at his friend incredulously.

They were currently seated in the lunch hall, surrounded by annoyingly loud younger students. Being the oldest in the school didn't always have its perks. It was already the first day and Tony was already counting down the days until he got to go off to university and forget this place. Now he was at the top of the school, everyone else just seemed so young and irritating. Maybe they had just become more annoying over the summer spent with their families and friends, getting drunk or high and lying about how they got to second base with a girl who they had obviously made up seconds before.

"Okay right describe him again. Maybe we can work this out by the process of elimination."

"I've already told you this," Tony said lazily. He wanted to know who the stranger had been but not this much. He was perfectly content with letting the memory slip to the back of his mind along with all the other stupid things he had done. "He had black hair, it was kinda long. Tall, pale, really green eyes. Does that help?"

"It rings a bell," Clint frowned, screwing up his face as he thought.

"I'm sure," Tony replied, thinking that he was joking.

He relaxed back on his plastic chair, trying and failing to find a comfortable position to spend the remaining twenty minutes in while he waited for last lesson. Flipping out his phone, he scrolled through it with a bored expression, finding nothing of interest. He went onto his texts and found his last conversation with Pepper. It had been sweet, they had made plans to meet up. Plans that would obviously not happen now. Mumbling something, he deleted the messages and slammed his phone down onto the table in front of him. His head followed suit, resting it against the cool surface.

"Loki."

"Bless you."

"No dumbass, Loki. You know, the new kid. He started here today and matches your description perfectly. When he spoke, did he have a sort of British accent?"

Tony raked his brains, thinking back when the stranger had said his only few words. "Um, yeah he might have done, I suppose. He didn't say much, just wanted to leave I think."

"Argh hell fucking shit."

"I'm sorry? Was that really necessary?" Tony asked, smiling awkwardly at the people closest to them who had turned to stare because of Clint's outburst.

Clint just stared at him with an expression of mixed horror and pity. Tony glared right back, having no idea what had prompted that bought of language and why Clint was starting at him like he told him something horrific.

"Yeah it was, do you know who Loki is?"

Groaning in frustration, Tony looked at him with a deadened expression.

"Of course I don't considering I've only just found out now that this guy exists. So what's so special about him anyway?"

The reply that would have come was cut off when Clint started hitting his arm before discreetly nodding to one of the entrances of the lunch hall. Tony was about to ask what the hell he was doing until he followed Clint's line of sight and froze as he watched Loki enter through one of the many doors of the lunch hall.

He looked different from how Tony remembered him. Or maybe that was just because he was wearing a lot more now or the fact that he hadn't just woken up or that he had a girl standing extremely close to him, whispering in his ear. Tony recognised her but just couldn't for the life of him put name to face. Still, Loki seemed to know her very well. After she finished speaking he let out a laugh as they carried on walking.

Suddenly the smile faded from his face and he halted in his step, staring at something that Tony couldn't see. Tugging gently on the girls arm, Loki urged her to turn around to which she complied. They had just begun heading in the direction they had come from when there was a shout of Loki's name and Thor, the tallest kid in school who happened to be in Tony's year, hurried over and pulled Loki into a hug that he clearly protested against.

"How is your first day brother?" Thor asked. Though his words were directed solely at Loki, his voice was generally so loud that his words carried over to where Clint and Tony sat.

Tony assumed that Loki replied with something short along the lines of 'it's okay' or 'it's fine' because he was soon dismissing Thor, leaving him alone in the middle of the room while the pair walked away. As soon as their interaction was over and Thor had traipsed back over to his friends, looking rather downcast, Tony rounded on Clint.

"Thor is Loki's brother?!"

"That's what I wanted to tell you."

"I am so dead," Tony groaned.

"Only if Loki tells him, which I doubt considering he seems to not want to talk to his brother," Clint said, patting his back consolingly.

The bell rang overhead and the room was suddenly filled with an increase of sound and movement as everyone got up and headed to their lesson. Tony walked as slowly as he dared, not caring too much for his class, he could do the work in his sleep he found it that easy. He spent his time instead thinking up imaginative ways in which Thor could inflict pain on him if he did find out. Tony wouldn't have been so worried if a) Thor hadn't been in his year or in his classes or b) if he hadn't been one of Tony's close friends.

This year was going to be difficult, Tony thought as he took his seat in the back of his maths class, he could just feel it.

* * *

The class turned out to be totally uneventful, probably due to Tony managing to do the work in the space of ten minutes, maybe fifteen. For the rest of the hour he stared down at his book, occasionally twiddling his pencil in his hand before dropping it on his desk and sighing. He stared out the window. Being on the first floor meant he could look out over the school grounds and see the people doing sport running up and down a track or else kicking a football around on the pitch.

As he watched them, there was some sort of disagreement and the next second two players were throwing themselves at the other. Their swears and pushes soon evolved and more players got involved until the two teams were in each other's faces, trying to make the other back off. It was only now that the teacher seemed to notice that no one was playing the game anymore. He ran over, blowing hard on his whistle and screamed for the players to sort themselves out or they would all be sent to the principal's office. After that they all quietened down, having no desire to be suspended for fighting. Soon the game was back in progress and, whatever had stopped it in the first place, was forgotten.

Suddenly, the window that Tony was gazing out of was slammed shut. He blinked upwards and met the eyes of his teacher staring down at him.

"Anything interesting out there Stark?"

"No Sir," Tony replied, quickly picking up his pen, pretending that he had been listening.

"Good. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to carry on with my lesson, this time with the class's full attention. Can you do that?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad to hear it. Just to test that you have been listening at all today, answer the question on the board, giving a detailed explanation of how you got that answer."

He hadn't been listening really but he knew what to do, it was a simple enough process. He quickly ran through how he had gotten the answer of two, knowing that no other in the class had any idea of what he was talking about besides Bruce, who was sat next to him, and that girl he had seen Loki with earlier.

As the register had been taken, Tony learnt that her name was Natasha. Thinking back, that name was very familiar, she had probably been in his classes in the past and he just hadn't paid that much attention. It sounded bad but it was true. He mostly only bothered with people who bothered with him, if someone didn't speak to him then he would most definitely not try to talk to them.

Anyway, she was fairly small, having a slim trimmed figure. If it wasn't for the heeled boots she wore, she would be as tall as most of the younger students in the school. With her shoes on, though, she stood on level with practically everyone in the year but some were still naturally taller. He friend Loki was one of those people. He just so happened to be naturally tall like his brother.

The lesson ended quicker than Tony had expected which he was rather happy about. He was eager to get home and forget this horrible first day. Well it could have been much worse, he could have run into Pepper.

As the bell rang, the class surged forward through the door so Tony decided to hang back, not wanting to get trampled. Unfortunately he was fairly small, well smaller than most others, so this was more likely. The doorway soon cleared and he headed out of the room, intending to pick up some books from his locker.

A hand took hold of his arm, yanking him backwards and around the corner from the classroom, and away from the eyes of the other students crowding the hallway. He let out a yelp of surprise before the air was knocked from his lungs as he was shoved against the wall.

"Okay Stark, we don't know eachother and I personally I think that's a good thing but Loki is my friend and so I need to warn you of this. If you ever tell anyone about _it_ then I will hunt you down a rip you apart piece by piece before hiding each one where no one will ever find them."

Letting out a breath, Tony sagged backwards against the wall. It was just Natasha, Loki's apparent psycho friend, not some crazy murderer. He laughed in apparent relief then looked up at the girl that still had him pinned against the wall.

"Alright honey, you can stop with the macho talk, I get the message but unfortunately I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Quit the bullshit Stark, I know whose bed Loki woke up in the morning after the party and it definitely wasn't his own. So take my warning, tell anyone and your dead."

This was about the moment when Tony sobered, no longer willing to just smile and take whatever threats she sent his way.

"One, I'd appreciate if you didn't shout that around-"

"What? Worried for your reputation?" Natasha interrupted.

"Two," Tony continued, choosing to ignore her comment. "I have no idea what the hell you are talking about." He said it slowly and deliberately just to make sure he got his message across. "Loki didn't tell me anything, in fact we barely even talked. I don't remember what happened and I'm kinda glad to be honest."

"You can keep lying all you want but remember what I said, tell anyone and you die."

Then she was gone and Tony was left leaning against the wall, thoroughly confused. Readjusting his shirt, he walked to his locker which had been his goal in the first place, and picked up the books he needed. All the while, he thought over what Natasha had said. _Don't tell anyone about it._ What the hell was _it_? Tony really wasn't lying when he said he had no idea what she was talking about. It was true, him and Loki had barely exchanged two words. They might have exchanged more the night of the party but Tony couldn't remember anything so he was still at a loss. All he did know was that he didn't approve of being thrown against walls and threatened with his life. Especially by girls he had never spoken to in his life.

Right. It was the moment of truth. The time for confrontation. Though he had vowed to himself never to speak to Loki again, he knew that now it was necessary to break that oath. Turning the key in his locker, he refastened his bag and slung it over his shoulder before walking off down the corridor in search of Loki. He truthfully had no idea where he would be, most likely he had already left. But there was a chance that he had stayed behind, either to wait for a friend, pick up some books like Tony had done, gone to a club or just wanted to chill round school instead of going home. Personally Tony hoped that the last one wasn't Loki's reason for staying because that would be pretty lame but who was Tony to judge.

He wandered around and around, up and down corridors for some time, then, admitting defeat, he strolled to the car park in search of his car. As if by magic, just as Tony exited the school building, he caught sight of Loki staring at the ground as he walked beside an animated Thor.

Jogging over to them, Tony tapped Loki lightly on the shoulder, so as not to scare him like Natasha had to Tony. Loki turned round almost instantly and his passive expression transformed into alarm in less than a second. Thor also turned around, noticing that Loki had stopped walking.

"Friend Tony, how nice to see you for the beginning of this new school year. I hope it has begun well for you."

"Yeah it's going okay thanks, yours?" Tony asked casually.

"It is going quite well so far. I am happy that my brother has joined this term." He pointed unnecessarily at Loki, grinning widely.

"Cool," Tony said, continuing this time before Thor could interrupt. "Um, Loki can I talk to you for a minute, uhh, over there." He gestured aimlessly to somewhere to the left of them that was at a fair distance away from Thor.

"Thor keep walking, I'll catch you up," Loki turned and said to the blonde.

Thor smiled and nodded, heading off through the school gates and off down the road. Loki followed Tony off the path and away from prying ears that could be listening in.

"Is there anything particular you wanted?" Loki asked curtly, seemingly annoyed that Tony didn't start speaking straight away.

"Yeah," Tony replied. He paused for a few seconds then started speaking. "Yeah, okay, what the hell is the matter with you?"

"I'm sorry?" Loki asked, obviously shocked by Tony's suddenly hostile tone.

"So you just tell your friend about what happened and then set her on me. She half attacked me in the middle of the corridor before dragging me backwards and threatening to kill me if I didn't keep your secrets."

"What?!" Loki demanded, thoroughly confused.

"Natasha. Your friend. She started shouting at me and threatening me not to tell anyone about something that you apparently told me which I'm pretty sure you didn't. I don't even know you."

Tony looked up at Loki, expecting an immediate response but receiving none. Loki appeared almost frozen, deep in thought, his mouth drawn in a thin and his pale cheeks even paler.

"I'm sorry for what she has done to you, I hope you're not hurt."

"No I'm good. Just some warning next time, or maybe you could say something yourself if there's a problem," Tony said slowly, wondering why Loki was suddenly acting differently. He seemed more hardened and closed off. His expression was impossible to read and his body language even more so.

"I think it best that we don't converse with eachother or make contact in any way in school or outside of it. Luckily we don't share classes or friends so it should be a fairly easy thing to achieve. Good day Tony Stark."

And with that, Loki headed off across the grass and back onto the path.

"Hey wait a second," Tony called after him, running to keep up.

"What now?"

"What the hell was that? We're not five year olds that don't get along, so there's no need to act like one or treat us both like one. We're basically adults."

"Your point?"

"Why do we suddenly have a 'we can't be friends or even look at each other' law? I never said I wanted to be your best friend but it would be nice to have some sort of relationship that isn't total hostility."

"That is not a good idea, Stark, now please stop bothering me so that I can actually go home."

"Well someone got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning," Tony joked.

In a second Loki was practically pushed up against Tony's chest, his green eyes boring into Tony's brown ones. His height made this whole move quite intimidating, more so than Natasha's threats. Strands of his dark hair fell over his face which made his expression look even more sinister.

"Do not make fun of me or profess to know me," Loki said darkly, his voice dropping in volume. "You are not my friend, or even my acquaintance, we just happen to have had an unfortunate meeting. Now excuse me."

This time when Loki walked away, Tony didn't go after him. Instead he just watched him go. As he ambled his way over to his car, Tony wondered just what Loki had apparently told him that would be serious enough to illicit a reaction like that from him.

* * *

_I'm not sure when the new chapter will be posted as I haven't had time to write much of it yet, hopefully it will be soon. Thankyou for all the follows and please review?! :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry this update took awhile but I struggled to write this chapter because I found it really boring and couldn't get into it. The story will pick up from here and get better and then the Frostiron will follow, so stay tuned and please leave a comment at the end to tell me what you think so far!_

* * *

Chapter 3

Not for the first time Loki was angry. In truth he was angry most of the time. And ninety-nine per cent of the time he was angry at stupid things like when the water ran cold when he took a shower or if Thor had used up the juice and had put the empty carton back in the fridge. But his anger now was actually reasoned and he stomped up the stairs to his room, not caring when his mother called to him. He just slammed his door shut, letting out a frustrated cry and falling back against his closed door.

Dropping to his knees, he searched through his bag that he had dropped next to him on the floor. Pulling out his phone, he dialled the now familiar number and waited for the rings to stop. The rings went on and on. No one picked up. Just before he was about to ring off, a voice spoke down the line.

"What's up? I literally just got home."

"Well I wouldn't settle down because you're coming over to mine now."

"What? Why?" Natasha whined. "Oh come one Loki, I just got back and I'm tired and I have loads of work to do already."

"Not my problem, now either you come over now or I will drag you."

"But why can't you just come here-"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence as Loki ended the call. From doing that, Loki knew that when she turned up she would be pissed. Good, Loki thought. That would make two of us. Still, as he waited for Natasha to arrive, he wondered whether he was even angry at her. Maybe partly, he was more frustrated with her than straight out angry. Was it Tony he was most angry with or himself? That was the question.

It took nearly half an hour for the doorbell to ring and another minute or two before his bedroom door flew open and Natasha stumped in. To say she looked pissed off was an understatement. However, Loki wasn't worried because it showed true friendship that she had come over in the first place. Anyone else would have told Loki to fuck off and would have confronted him at school or something, shouting how he's a dick and how they so weren't friends anymore. Not Natasha. Even though she might not have wanted to come, she wanted to know what was wrong with Loki and if that meant going to his house then that is what she would do.

"This," she snapped, throwing herself down on his bed. "Better be important. I don't appreciate being shouted at down the phone or at all really but because it was you made it that little bit worse."

"Truly I am sorry. Wait I didn't shout-"

"Yeah you did."

"No I-"

Natasha interrupted him again. "Look I'm not here to argue now get on with whatever it is that you wanted to tell me because I do have plans of going home tonight."

Loki rolled his eyes, taking a seat next to his friend.

"Tony came up to me while I was walking home with Thor. He told me that you attacked him in the corridor then threatened him."

"Yeah," Natasha replied nonchalantly, picking at her nails.

"Why did you do that?!" Loki asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"You didn't want people knowing your shit and he's not a trustworthy person so I thought I'd enforce the message."

"Thanks for that but I can look after myself. It would have been okay, though, if you hadn't said that because he doesn't know anything, I never told him."

Sighing in irritation, Natasha stood up and gestured at Loki. "Well you could have told me that before."

"I didn't know. I can't remember what happened."

She flopped back down on the bed and sighed again, resting her head on his shoulder. "Okay, so I may have made things worse but you can forgive me because you love me." Loki laughed lightly, pushing her head off. He knew she was only being nice so that he wouldn't be angry with her. "But remember that this isn't all my fault I didn't get drunk and do it with a stranger."

"Oh god, please don't say that," Loki groaned. "I don't remember what happened but I hope it wasn't that. I don't think I could live with myself."

Natasha stayed for a while longer while they talked over their first day. It had been a long time since they had gone to school together so it was nice to rekindle their love for getting frustrated with every teacher and every student. Natasha was mostly happy that she had her best friend back, though she had other friends, there was still nothing like having the person you trust most back by your side. Loki was just happy to have a friend again. Going to a new school where you know no one was difficult but when you join half way through the year makes in a hundred times worse. Everyone already have their groups of friends and you just don't fit in. You go from friend to friend realising you fit in nowhere so you accept your fate and spend your time alone, pretending you don't give a shit.

He was glad he finally glad he had a chance to start again. It had been his choice to go to a different school anyway, one that he regretted very quickly. Either way there was no way to go back now. It was time to move forward. Well at least he would try to.

* * *

The next day at school Tony arrived, as ever, just in time and in style. He drove into the car park in a car that the other students could only hope to afford, parking a space that was close to the front gates. It meant he didn't have to walk far when he was crawling out of school at the end of the day. School seemed to have that effect on people.

He got into registration just as the bell rang and took a seat next to his friend Bruce who greeted him with a small smile and a hello.

"Tony," The teacher snapped, causing him to jump. He had literally just arrived. What on earth could he have done wrong?

"Yes?" He asked.

"I've had a message from the Principal telling you that you have a meeting at twelve o'clock with him, please for the love of god don't forget and turn up late."

"Did he elaborate or am I supposed to guess what it is about?"

"All the message said was to tell you about the meeting, it didn't say why. Just don't forget, if it's just with the Principal then I'm assuming it's quite serious."

"I'll bet," Tony muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes and standing up from his chair.

The bell rang again and he headed off to first lesson. Throughout the day Tony became more invested in his school work and thought less and less of the meeting he was supposed to attend. Of course, he forgot. Twelve o'clock came and went as he sat idly in lesson having no idea he was supposed to be somewhere else. It was only when Bruce leant over his desk and spoke to Tony did he remember.

"Hey didn't you need to be somewhere at twelve, I heard you and the teacher talking in registration this morning."

Tony glanced at the clock on the wall. "Shit," He murmured. Picking up his bag, he walked out of class, explain to the teacher quickly where he was going as he exited.

He was at least twenty minutes late by the time he was knocking and entering the Principals office.

"Sorry I'm late Sir, I totally forgot," Tony said as he turned and shut the door.

He heard the reply of 'it's alright, take a seat' along with an irritated huff from another person. As he took a seat, he glanced to the left and his stomach did a little jump. Loki. Loki sat in the other chair, his arms crossed over his chest and his hair mostly slicked back except for a few strands. The thoughts running through Tony's head at that point were _Oh crap, is this about the party? Did he tell someone? No he couldn't have. Wait, if he was in trouble then why was Loki here?_

This query was answered a few seconds later when their Principal started to speak.

"Now that Mr Stark here has finally decided to turn up, we can begin." He shot him a look before continuing. "You both are in your last year at school and, though Stark's ego doesn't need more boosting, you are two of the brightest kids in this school. That's why I'm offering you two and a select group of others to take part in a project which will allow you even better opportunities in the future. You both will be joint group leaders and the year will be split in half. The first half will be lead by Loki Odinson where you will lead the group in a play of your choice that is not musical theatre. Though I'm sure Stark here will be disappointed with that." Tony rolled his eyes but said nothing. "For the other half of the year Tony will lead the group but we will talk over that when we come to it. Today you will have your first group meeting after school so you will know who you are working with and during that time Loki will decide on what you will be acting out with the help of an English teacher that will be there to help. Any questions?"

"Yes, one Sir. How was I chosen for this considering my ehh...previous schooling history?" Loki asked hesitantly.

"You will be kept on watch but your school record before that offers no concern."

Loki nodded, relaxing back into his chair, ignoring the curious glances he received from Tony. Tony continued to stare at him, confused by what he had just heard. What were they talking about? What had happened to Loki in his previous school that had caused him to be put on watch here? There was something about him that intrigued Tony but he couldn't put his finger onto what exactly it was. But a few seconds later, he came to the conclusion that it was not one of his top priorities to figure out the new kid. Anyway, Loki said that they shouldn't talk and, judging by the death glares he was receiving from said man, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to talk to him at all.

"And Stark?"

"Wh-Oh right," Tony stumbled over his words, trying to remember what they had been talking about. "Yeah I have a question, am I really expected to act? Is this like filmed and stuff because this could ruin me?"

Their Principal rolled his eyes. "Yes you will be expected to act and be filmed for the final performance. To be honest Stark I think you have no problem with acting or confidence in any way so I'm sure you'll be fine. Now both of you need to make your choices whether you want to take part in this project."

Both Tony and Loki nodded yes before leaving the room. They didn't say anything to the other not that they really had the chance. As soon as they left the room, Loki started off down the corridor and was out of sight a few seconds later. Tony just sighed, running his fingers through his already ruffled hair then headed off back to class, wondering if he had just agreed to a year of extra work and death glares. This was going to be fun. God he hoped the other people on the project were more fun than Loki seemed to be.

* * *

The end of the day came quicker than either Tony or Loki expected. Or would have liked. It's not that they weren't looking forward to the meeting but...well...they weren't. Both liked the idea of being given this opportunity and being put as a group leader. They just weren't happy that they had to work with the other. So much for Loki's plan of them never speaking. Still, they had to get on with it.

Loki reached the door to the classroom where the meeting was being held. Turning the door handle, he took a deep breath then released it as he walked inside. He looked around and saw that a few people sat scattered around the room. A pair sat together in the front row, talking quietly but they glanced up when Loki shut the door. They began talking again straight away, obviously not bothered by his appearance. He continued to scan the other faces, most of which he didn't know. But of the two he did, only one he was happy to see. Natasha sat on the back row, her feet up on the desk and her hands behind her head, staring out the window. He walked over and took the seat beside her.

The one he was not so pleased to see was obviously Thor. This school just couldn't let them be apart, could it? This project was for a whole year and he was lumbered with the task of trying to teach his lump of a brother how to act. Wonderful. Luckily he was in deep conversation with a girl and paid no attention to Loki as he settled down at the back.

"Right, is everyone here?" A man, who Loki assumed was the teacher that would be helping them was, asked as he set his bag down on the desk.

"Don't you have a register?" One of the girls asked from the third row down.

"Um no, although one might be handy," the teacher said, looking around as though one would just magically appear.

"Are you even a teacher?"

He nodded in response, smiling. "My name's Mr Logan."

"What do you teach?"

"Art." Muffled laughter filled the room then mocking mutterings began. "But I have a degree in English Literature and worked in a drama school for a year or so which I think makes me qualified."

That shut everyone up.

Luckily the awkward silence that followed was interrupted by Tony Stark falling through the door. He stumbled before standing straight and walking forward as though nothing happened.

"Sorry I'm late, class overran."

Loki laughed but covered it with a cough. "It seems to be a regular habit of yours," He commented.

Tony sent him a sarcastic smile. He took a seat next to his friend near the front, his back now facing Loki, who pulled a face and rolled his eyes. Natasha watched them the whole time.

"Well that was mature," She whispered to Loki as the teacher began to speak.

He ignored her, choosing instead to listen.

It was soon explained that they would be meeting up twice to three times a week depending on people's schedules. They were expected to turn up to every single one and put in the work and not leave it down to two people. Everyone was made aware of Tony and Loki being group leaders, which all of them seemed okay about. No one really knew Loki yet to judge whether he would be a good leader or not. The tasks were explained to the rest of the group who hadn't been told before hand what all of this was about and were given the option to leave if they didn't want to take part. None of them left.

Not long later, however, the door opened. A girl walked in with long strawberry blonde hair tied back so as to keep it out of her face, and a bag hanging on her shoulder. Pepper looked around and her eyes widened as her gaze landed on Tony. He just groaned and slid further down in his chair. She stared at him for another moment, keeping her expression passive. Then she took a seat and asked for the teacher to start again because she had missed everything.

While he was talking, Tony leant over and whispered to Clint, "What is she doing here?"

"I'm assuming she was invited," Clint replied out of the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah, well I wish she hadn't been."

So far he had successfully avoided her, even though she had said they would see eachother sat school, but now he would be stuck with her at least twice a week for the rest of the year. Perfect. This year just kept getting better and better for Tony.

Loki continued to sit at the back, shifting from side to side, unable to get comfortable on his chair. He really wished people would stop turning up. All he wanted to do was just start planning but this was just going on too long. He wanted to go home. He had work to do and he was tired. It had been a long day which was being made even longer by the arrival of Stark's girlfriend, or rather his ex-girlfriend.

That was the moment when Loki remembered something from that night before school started, the night that he tried not to think about. He had gone outside for some fresh air and had been standing leaning against a wall, when the girl came barging outside pulling along Tony. They had fought, she had ended their relationship, Tony went back inside but just before he disappeared, they had made eye contact. That was all he could remember. Eye contact. How on earth could eye contact lead to waking up beside that person the next morning, totally naked? Loki had absolutely no idea. And he hadn't really wanted to find out. Well not until he and Tony were made group leaders of this year long project and would be spending a lot of time in the others company. Maybe it was worth finding out what happened after all.

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thankyou for all the favourites and follows so far, stay tuned and please review?! :)_


	4. Chapter 4

_I try not to make excuses but I am so sorry this has taken a long time as will the rest of the updates. School is just so busy at the moment and I have a lot on my mind and I'm sorry I can't update more. I promise though that I will never abandon a story, you will get your chapter whether it takes me a week or a month! Anyway, happy reading!_

* * *

Chapter 4

That new enthusiasm to understand Tony Stark had soon dissipated as the weeks wore on and Loki was expected to spend almost every evening with the man. They were constantly working together to figure out what on earth to do, what play to choose, what parts people would play. In the end, after many an argument, they settled on Romeo and Juliet because everyone knew the story and they could easily rewrite the language so it was more understandable for everyone. They had given everyone to learn some lines for an audition to decide which part they would best suit. Obviously Tony wasn't happy about that.

"He just wouldn't stop complaining Natasha, I don't know how much more I can take of this."

"Me neither," Natasha replied flatly, not looking up from the piece of paper she was scrawling on. "Your constant bitching sounds worse than his."

Loki grumbled something incoherent.

They had a free period and were supposed to be studying, or at least catching up on homework. Natasha was persevering with a rather difficult essay while putting up with Loki's continuous complaints. On the other hand, Loki was sitting next to her, clicking his pen, apparently totally unaware that he was driving his friend crazy. She loved having him back, and especially loved that they now went to the same school, she really did. But there were some moments that she just needed a break. Loki was a lot to handle and sometimes she just needed to take a few minutes to calm down before going back.

One person who she thought could deal with Loki constantly would be Tony. She thought they would actually be good together if they didn't always argue. And if Tony wasn't straight. Details, details, Natasha thought as she stared down at her paper, unable to think of anything to write. Finally, Loki had seemed to have talked himself into silence, focusing instead on the mountain of books in front of him, wondering which one to pick up first. He settled on the one on top, knowing that if he took one from lower down, the entire stack would collapse and he would be forced to pick them all back up.

"Hey Natasha."

They both looked up at the mention of the name. Pepper stood next to their table, eyeing their work before raising her eyes to Natasha.

"What's up?"

"Oh nothing, you know, I have a free period too so I'm just trying to catch up on some work."

Loki's attention wandered away from the conversation as it fell into simple small talk. Nothing of interest there. He turned over a page in his book and started to read. When Pepper suddenly mentioned Tony, his curiosity grew. Quickly he refocused on the conversation, careful not to give away the fact that he was listening in. He stared down at the book but didn't take in any of the words as he worked to hear every word. You never know what information might be useful, Loki thought.

"So anyway I was wondering if you had seen Tony or know where he is?" There was a note to her voice that gave off the sense of desperation. Natasha seemed to pick up on this as well.

"Pepper, are you okay?"

Without invitation Pepper sat down on the seat adjacent to her and leant in, lowering her voice but still leaving it loud enough for Loki to hear.

"Well...truthfully no." Natasha prompted her to keep talking. "I'm trying to find Tony because he's avoiding me. I know I was the one that broke up with him because I had just had enough of his crap but honestly I miss him. Not just as my boyfriend but as my friend. When he was in the mood to care, he did really care. He could be so kind sometimes and I feel like I might have given up too easily."

"And he's avoiding you? You're sure of that?"

Pepper gave her a half exasperated, half sad look. "You've seen him at the meetings. He won't even look in my direction let alone speak to me!"

"Fair point" Natasha agreed. "All you can really do is force him to talk to you, confront him. But if he really doesn't want to talk then you've got to let him come to you or move on. It's a harsh reality but it needs to be said."

Nodding slowly, Pepper managed a watery smile and a thankyou before standing up and walking away. Natasha watched her go, feeling rather sorry for her. She really did seem quite upset. Next to her, Loki was once again lost in thought, reliving the night of the party. Well what he could remember. Tony had done something that annoyed Pepper, it had obviously happened before, she was really angry and hurt, he pleaded, she ended it and walked away, and Tony had shouted, cursed then had gone inside aswell.

"Hey 'Tasha?"

She turned her head, giving Loki a death glare. "Don't call me that," She said warningly.

"Yeah, whatever," Loki replied. "Now help me with this, I can't find I good quote."

Rolling her eyes, she leant over and began to flick through the book, trying to find a good quote for Loki to use for part of his English assignment.

* * *

It was audition day. And everyone, even Loki who didn't have to audition, wished it wasn't. Throughout the day, members of the group had continuously come up to him between classes, or sometimes during, to question him about what would happen later. He was forced to repeat the same thing over and over again until his head was hurting and his voice was failing.

When last lesson finally came, he slumped down in a chair at the back and rested his head against the cool surface of his desk, thankful for some relief from his throbbing head. There was a loud crash as one student slammed the classroom door shut and Loki cringed, wishing he could just go to bed.

"You okay?"

Oh perfect, Loki thought. The one thing that would make his day even better. Tony Stark sitting next to him. This day had just been intent on being crap from the moment he had woken up that morning.

"I'm fine," Loki grunted, lifting his head up off his desk.

Tony took a long hard look at his face. "Well you don't look fine."

"I have a headache," Loki said bluntly.

The other mans mouth formed into the shape of an 'oh' before he began to rummage through his bag. He slid something across the table to Loki then withdrew his hand.

"What's this?" Loki asked, looking down at the packet in front of him.

"They're painkillers, you know, for your headache." Loki looked at him incredulously to which Tony just smiled. "Look I can be nice you know. But fine, if you don't want them." Tony made to take them back just as Loki put his own hand out to take them. Their hands met and they both withdrew quickly.

"Thankyou," Loki said, taking two of the tablets with a single gulp of water.

"Anytime," Tony replied, turning away to talk to a friend who was on the other side of him.

This was the only class together and Loki was thankful for it. He wasn't totally sure why Tony took psychology seeing as he was more science and maths orientated. There had never really been the right moment to ask considering they were mostly arguing or ignoring eachother. Either way, Loki was confused why Tony was here or being nice or not moving. He usually sat near the front but he didn't seem to be moving. As it turned out, he sat next to Loki for the entire hour, only speaking when the teacher asked a question or when someone around them asked for help.

The painkillers kicked in, easing Loki's headache. By the time he got to the classroom where the auditions were being held, he was actually sort of looking forward to it. Well maybe that was exaggerating. At least he wasn't dreading it anymore.

In total the auditions took just under two hours. They had to get through the whole group and there were eleven of them, excluding Loki. It had been much to Tony's displeasure when Loki had told him that he would be acting and not directing alongside him. However, this turned out to be an advantage because, when it was Tony's turn to audition, they all saw a hidden talent that was clearly there under the surface. Maybe he would never be able to pursue a career in the performing arts but he was good enough that it could be considered if all else failed.

The others weren't too bad. In general the acting quality was fairly good, some better than others. The point of the project wasn't meant to suit their strengths, it was supposed to test them. During one of the meetings, they had all learnt the reason why they had been asked to take part in the project. Each student had been chosen because they were the top student in a certain subject. If they were excelling and could keep up with all the extra work then they were put into the group.

For example Steve had been chosen for history, Natasha for geography, Thor for sports, Bruce and Jane for the sciences. Tony and Loki were chosen for their general excellent grades throughout all classes, not just specific to one, however if chosen their subjects were English literature for Loki and the Sciences for Tony.

"So I say we decide on everyone's parts tomorrow after we've had an evening to mull over it all," Mr Logan said, getting to his feet.

"Yes I think that would be best," Loki replied, also standing up.

They said a quick goodbye then Loki headed for the door. He walked to the next classroom along and poked his head through the door.

"You can all go home, we're done for today."

There were a lot of murmurs of relief from the group, thankful that they could finally go home.

"Wait don't we find out today?"

Of course it would be Tony to ask. Of course it would be him to start a conversation so Loki would have to wait even longer to go home.

"No, you don't."

"Why not? Don't you have any idea who is gunna be who?" He hurried over to Loki, dodging out the way of the people who were trying to exit the room.

"No, Stark, I don't. Now I really need to-"

"So will we find out next meeting then?" Tony interrupted.

"Yes. Now I'm going home."

Everyone had basically left by this point, although Thor was probably waiting for Loki outside the school gate.

"No wait," Tony spluttered desperately, reaching forward to touch Loki's arm. The other moved it away quickly so Tony couldn't touch him and sent him a highly confused look. "I need your help." Loki continued to look thoroughly confused. "Right okay, Pepper and I broke up and she really wants to talk to me about it but I don't want to and she's probably waiting outside the school right now so I need you to talk to me the whole time as we leave so she doesn't come over."

Loki stared at him for a few seconds, not quite believing if he heard right. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

He was sent an unimpressed look in reply. "Not helpful. Oh come on, I couldn't ask Clint because he would say I'm an idiot," Tony pleaded.

"I think you're an idiot," Loki said bluntly.

Rolling his eyes, Tony thought of any other reason to convince Loki to help him. The other man seemed to grow bored and began to walk down the corridor without another word. Tony hurried after him.

"Look have I done something to you because I really don't get why you hate me so much?"

This wasn't just Tony trying to stall Loki now. He was generally curious as to why the other always treated him as though he was repulsive and not worth his time.

"I do not hate you."

Tony scoffed. "Well it certainly feels like it."

"You already know that I don't wish to be close to you in any way and to have to put up with you most of the time does not help with that. You are irritating. And considering what has happened between us already, I would rather keep my distance."

"Oh you mean when we slep-"

"Keep talking and I will rip your tongue out," Loki snarled.

Suddenly, Tony found his back pressed firmly against a row of lockers with Loki's face so close to his he could feel his cool breath washing over his face.

"Someone's touchy," he joked, attempting to lighten the mood. Obviously the totally wrong thing to try and do.

Abruptly, Loki let go of him, not turning back as he continued on his way out of the building. Though he didn't want to admit it, Tony was now pissed. This guy just comes in and treats him like he's nothing and acts like he doesn't care when obviously he does. Loki was feeling something below the surface. He just wasn't willing to share it. Well Tony was going to make him.

"Come on Loki, it wasn't all that bad. You make it out as though I forced you into it but let me just correct you on that. You were very willing."

The black haired man froze mid step, slowly turning back to face the other.

"You told Natasha that you didn't remember what happened," Loki murmured, his voice dangerously low.

"Yeah, well, I lied," Tony smirked.

This actually seemed to be working. But Loki did now look like he wanted to murder him so maybe this wasn't the best plan after all.

"And why would you do that?" His voice was impossibly low now, taking on a softer, more deadly note.

"Hmm, I don't know," Tony said sarcastically, resting a finger on his chin in a mocking gesture of pretending he was deep in thought. "You did say yourself that I'm an idiot."

"I don't care for you snarky comments, Stark. Just tell me what happened!"

It was too easy, Tony thought. It was just too easy to get to Loki. He had barely even posed a challenge. Tony could see the man seething in front of him and he could read all of his other emotions so easily on his face. So now he knew Loki's weakness. Breakdown his walls or barriers, whatever he kept up between himself and his emotions, and he would be exposed.

"Nah, I'm good."

He sauntered past Loki, out the front doors and into the warm still air. He did manage to get far before Loki had him pined up against a wall once again, this time against the cold brick wall of the school.

"If this is going to become a habit of yours, please try to stop now. My back can only hit walls a certain amount of times before some serious damage is caused."

Tony knew he was pushing his luck. Loki seemed to be itching to punch him in the face, his free hand having curled into a fist, but he just couldn't resist baiting him.

"I don't care Stark," Loki snapped. "Now tell me what happened or-"

"Or what? See you're just talk and no action," he said, sounding out the last words slowly and deliberately.

Groaning in frustration, Loki tightened his grip on Tony's shirt. "Just. Tell. Me. What. Happened."

"No."

Loki through both his hands up in the air and took a small step back, cursing in words that Tony couldn't understand. Obviously they were spoken in a different language. When, he turned back to face the genius, he swallowed hard, calming himself. This time when he spoke, his voice was low yet even.

"Please tell me what happened that night."

"No," Tony said immediately.

"Why?"

"Because it was easy. It was just too damn easy."

He pushed away from the wall and past Loki, leaving the other standing there trying to figure out what his words meant.

"Stark, what do you mean?"

The man in question just turned back and smiled widely. "You're supposed to be smart. Work it out."

Loki remained where he was, fuming over everything that had just transpired. What did Tony mean by 'too easy'? Had he meant that Loki was too easy? That the night of the party it was too easy to get him in to bed? Or did he mean it as it was too easy to work out what happened? Either way Loki was left thoroughly confused. He walked out the school gates in a stupor, and remained that way the whole way home.

Thor hadn't waited for him which was surprising. Maybe he had just taken too long and the blond's insatiable hunger couldn't wait any longer. Loki was also surprised not to see Pepper anywhere around. Not that he particularly wanted to see her. Had what Tony said been true, that he was trying to avoid her? Or had what he had said been a lie? But why would he lie? Loki thought.

The whole day had been too long and more tiring than he would have liked. Unfortunately, he would have to repeat it tomorrow. School didn't care how tired you were. You were expected to attend no matter what. And Loki couldn't mess up at this school, not like his last. He had to persevere and get through.

Once he got home, he went straight to his bedroom just like any other day. He dropped his bag on the floor by his door and sat on the edge of his bed. Then he thought. He thought until his brain hurt again. He struggled to recall his memories of the night of the party. He strived to know the truth. But the memories stayed resolutely out of reach. All he had to do was prey that they really weren't that bad.

At the same time as this, Tony got home and went straight to his room as well. But instead of sitting down and thinking, he went to get a shower. The whole time, a smile never once left his face. He was happy in the knowledge that he had gotten to Loki. He was happy with the response he had received. And he was happy that he got to see Loki again the next day. He wasn't sure why. But at that moment, he didn't really care.

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_Hope you enjoyed, please review?! :)_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The bell rang clear throughout the school and all the students jumped out of their seats, smiles blossoming on to all of their faces. That was the sound that meant freedom. It was the loud clang that told them that they could all go home and forget the stress of school for a few hours before heading off to bed. For others, however, it was the sound of impending doom.

Instead of standing up, Tony sank further into his chair, unwilling to get up yet. As soon as he did he would know he would have to leave the safety of his classroom and go and face Loki and the rest of the group for another meeting. After the events of the previous evening, Tony had spent a lot of time mulling them over in his head. He had come to think that what he had said and done had probably not been the best way of getting Loki to break out of his shell. Unfortunately, Tony also knew it would likely be impossible to try and apologise to him.

Tony begrudgingly got to his feet, tucked in his chair and left the room, heading for the English classroom that served as their meeting room. Luckily he wasn't the first to arrive, or maybe that wasn't so lucky because Loki was one of the few that were in the room. He looked over as he heard the door open but his eyes quickly dropped down to the papers in front of him as soon as he saw who it was.

Clint called him over and he went willingly. It took about another ten minutes before they were all there, including their leader/support staff Mr Logan. He did a small introduction, saying how they had all done very well in the auditions and he was very impressed, before he went on to explain how Loki and he had met up in lunch that day and discussed the giving of parts. Then he fumbled inside one of his pockets, producing a crumpled piece of paper with all their names and roles written on.

"Without further ado, let's reveal who will be the main stars of our show." They all rolled their eyes and suppressed groans at his choice of words. Mostly they stayed quiet, secretly eager to find out who was playing who, or rather, who they themselves would be playing. "So ladies first, and the part of Juliet goes to...Natasha Romanoff."

Everyone turned to stare at her, where she sat next to Loki towards the back. She had turned her head and was staring dumbfounded at her friend.

"Are you serious?" she hissed.

He smiled and nodded, "You were the best out of them all." She tried to protest so he interrupted. "We'll talk about it in a minute, everyone else still need to find out which role they will play."

"Thankyou," Mr Logan said, having been waiting patiently for them to finish their short conversation. "And Natasha, who will be playing your Romeo? I can now tell you that it's...Clint Barton."

Tony let out a whoop of laughter, clapping his friend hard on the back, grinning as Clint sent him a horror-struck look. There was an unmistakable groan from somewhere behind them before a heaving thump followed as Natasha's head fell against her desk.

"I cannot be Romeo," Clint insisted, turning to address Loki.

"And why not?" Loki asked, ignoring Natasha's continued moans of annoyance.

"Well...because...because," He hesitated, then nodded his head at Natasha. "Because of that exact reaction."

"I'm sure you'll both get over it," Loki smirked, patting his friend lightly on the shoulder in mock comfort.

She raised her head and glared daggers at him.

"Alright, alright, settle down so I can read out the rest of the names."

They all lapsed into silence, once again eager to know who they would play. To be honest most of them were relieved that they would not be playing the lead. It meant a hell of a lot less work and they could make fun of who were playing the roles.

Tony was next given the role of Mercutio, Thor as Tybalt, Steve as Benvolio, Bruce as Friar Laurence, Pepper as Juliet's Nurse etc. Most were given more than one part to fill in the smaller roles but everyone seemed generally happy with the results. Well at least there were no arguments. Except for when Steve rounded on Loki.

"How come you don't have a part?"

"I am directing."

"Still, this is about acting. Shouldn't you have a small part or something? Some of us might not want to act but they don't have a choice unless they quit."

"You do have a choice bu-"

"Come on guys, don't argue now. You'll kill everyone's buzz and they've finally all started to get into this whole thing."

Loki sent Tony a glare but did step away, moving back over to Natasha. On his short journey Thor somehow managed to intercept him and he was soon drawn into a mundane conversation with the man. Meanwhile, Steve was berating Tony over his interruption. He held nothing against Loki, he just didn't understand how a new kid could just come in and an important school project without even explaining himself. Tony knew that Steve was just kidding himself. The man was a natural born leader and it didn't sit well with him that he had to sit on the side while another took charge. Over the weeks that followed, his temper over the matter calmed and he soon became as invested in the group as he would have been if he was leading.

Pleased that he had managed to avoid an argument, Tony sat on the desk that Clint was occupying, starting up a conversation with Bruce who sat beside him. It was around that moment that just about everything in the world seemed to hate Tony. Well this is how he felt anyway which meant it was probably an exaggeration. Still, it was the moment that Pepper plucked up her courage and went over to talk to him.

For some minutes he pretended to be in deep conversation but this facade could only last so long when he was discussing what they were all having for dinner. Admitting defeat, he slowly turned to face her head on, keeping his expression passive.

"We need to talk," She said immediately, not even bothering with a greeting.

Those four words seemed to cause a hush throughout the room. Though whispered conversations continued, they were no longer in depth discussion or loud shouts. Everyone was listening, or half listening. Even Mr Logan, who had been flicking through a copy of Romeo and Juliet, had stopped on one page and stared at it, not reading, just looking.

"Yeah, maybe we should go outside," Tony said awkwardly, trying not to meet the eyes of anyone else in the room.

"No, I'm good here and if we went outside you would probably make an excuse or run off again." She was angry. Great, he thought. Pissed of Pepper was almost worse than upset crying Pepper.

"Right...well..." His voice drifted away, unsure of what to say next.

It appeared, however, that Pepper did know what to say as the next second she launched into a rant that was so well perfected, he had a hard time believing that it hadn't been rehearsed.

"You have no right to do what you have done, you have no right to just ignore me and avoid me. We have...had been together for almost two years and you can't just blank me. I walked away, I ended it but that doesn't mean I asked for this. You treated me like I don't even matter when not so long ago I did matter to you, or was that just a lie? I didn't ask for this, I didn't ask for you to get it on with every girl you see, so why are you the one acting all hurt when you were the one that ruined it?" She paused for breath, angry tears causing her eyes to take on a glassy look.

Tony seized that moment of silence to speak. "But you said it yourself Pep, you ended it. I never asked you to."

"I was tired, I'm just so tired of having to keep you on a leash. You're an adult Tony so try acting like one."

"Sorry to interrupt this obviously deeply moving conversation but could you please take your lovers tiff elsewhere as we have work to do," Loki said, his words dripping with sarcasm. Tony whipped around to look at him and was surprised at his audacity to smile sweetly back at Tony.

"Shove off Loki, no one asked you to get involved."

"On the contrary, you are the one arguing in the middle of the meeting of which I happen to be the leader of."

At that moment Tony really wanted to hit Loki, to wipe that mocking smirk off his face. But he did admire his courage to backchat Tony when he was not in the mood for bullshit.

"Hmm, and who is joint leader? Or are you just trying to dominate everything...which is funny because rumour has it your the more submissive kind."

Loki's eyes widened. His mouth opened but no words came out. He just stared dumbstruck at what he had just heard. For everyone else in the room, they had no idea what Tony was insinuating, but, after their previous talk, Loki knew exactly what Tony was hinting at.

"Okay, okay, settle down. You two step outside for a minute and calm down, or have a fist fight, I'm not too bothered, just don't get blood all over the floor. Just sort out this tension and come back in when your heads are cleared and you're ready to work," Their teacher instructed, finally thinking it was a good time to cut in and stop this argument before the tension between them snapped.

Both Loki and Tony didn't look at eachother or anyone else as they exited the room. Loki stalked through first, slamming the door behind him, leaving Tony to reopen the door and shut it soundlessly behind him.

Those left in the room shared looks of confusion but made no comment. Pepper seemed as though she wanted to follow Tony out but thought better of it. She was just frustrated that the first conversation she had managed to have with him had been interrupted by Loki. Natasha still sat in her chair towards the back, absently worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. She was the only one in the room besides Clint who had any idea of what was going on between the two who had just left. Unfortunately, Thor assumed this and came up to her, asking quietly if she knew what their talk had been about. She shook her head, shrugging, knowing that if she told Thor anything then Loki would take far too much pleasure in ripping both hers and Thor's heads off.

Trying to take everyone's minds off what had just transpired; she got up and headed to the front desk, picking up the large stack of papers that rested on there.

"Okay, so these are the scripts, it would be a good idea for you all to take one and start reading through your lines."

They all blinked, as though being brought back to reality, before snapping into motion and each collecting one of the booklets. Everyone started to riffle through the pages, looking for where their character first makes an appearance.

* * *

As soon as he was outside the room and almost halfway down the corridor, Loki stopped and let his back thump back against the whitewashed wall, letting out a heavy sigh. Why did his life have to be so complicated? He thought. Why couldn't he lead a normal life that didn't involve being kicked out of school and sleeping with a total stranger from his new one?

To his dismay, Tony wandered over and settled himself against the wall opposite. After a few beats of silence, he started to tap his foot rhythmically against the floor while he stared at the ceiling above Loki's head. When Loki made no outward signs of frustration, he began to whistle while he tapped , looking all around Loki but never directly at his face. He was deliberately trying to wind him up. Pretending that the black haired man wasn't there seemed like a good idea and it was definitely working.

"Are you just intent on ruining my life or do you just enjoy making me look like a fool?"

"I dunno, both I suppose. It depends what mood I'm in."

Loki ground his teeth together angrily, watching as Tony continued to whistle the far too upbeat melody.

"Is there any reason why because by my reckoning, I haven't actually done anything to you?"

"I'd disagree..." Tony said, letting his head drop backwards to rest against the wall. Loki waited for him to keep talking but the man never elaborated.

"What did you mean the other day when you said it was too easy?" Loki asked, staring directly at the man opposite him. Said man continued to avoid his eye, much to Loki's annoyance.

Ah, Tony thought, finally he's asking the good questions. Now the conversation could start getting interesting. He replied with something simple that he knew would irritate Loki a little but more.

"Why don't you tell me what you think I meant?"

"I don't know," Loki said through gritted teeth. "Stop being so cryptic and give me some answers Stark. I don't want to play your games."

It was in that moment, Tony decided it was time to stop avoiding the others gaze and actually meet his stare head on. He also chose that moment to cross the corridor, crowding Loki until his back was pressed firmly against the wall.

"It's weird because I thought you'd love games," he said quietly, not breaking eye contact for a second. "You seem to play them with everyone. I've seen you around your brother, so much sarcasm and resentment when you're near him and it makes me curious as to why. Or how about the way you go from being cool to suddenly hating on me. I don't get it, I don't understand you Loki."

"Maybe I don't want you to," Loki replied, fidgeting uncomfortably at Tony's close proximity.

"And that just makes me want to know more," Tony muttered, somehow getting even closer.

"What do you want from me Stark?"

"I'm not sure. Why? Is there something you want from me?"

"The truth," Loki said immediately.

Though this probably wasn't the best time to realise it, but Tony found that he didn't mind being close to the man in front of him. His plan had been to lean in, make Loki squirm a little before stepping away. However, having seen the reaction he received when he got close, he really didn't want to pull away.

"Fine, if that's what you want. I'll tell you the truth." His voice dropped in volume again so now he was almost whispering. "I will tell you everything about that night, everything that happened. Every. Tiny. Little. Detail." He sounded every word out carefully, watching as each one had an effect on Loki. They were now impossibly close. So close in fact that as they took each breath, their chests brushed against each other.

Even their faces were close now, too close. And Loki knew this, he knew he should pull back, push the man away but he couldn't. These thoughts came before Tony reached down and took Loki's wrists loosely in his hands and pressed them by Loki's sides.

"It makes a change doesn't it, to have you pushed up against the wall instead of me. I'm tired of keep on being thrown against walls."

Loki was at a loss. He didn't know what to say or what to do. He didn't even know what to think. He wasn't sure he knew how anymore.

"Sorry," Loki managed breathily.

"Hmm, I'll have to think about forgiving you."

"Tell me what happened...please."

"Fine okay, I will tell you. So are you ready? You sure?" Loki just nodded. Suddenly Tony was so impossibly close that his lips brushed over Loki's. For a fleeting moment he thought the man in front of him was going to kiss him but he stopped short, instead letting his breath mingle with Loki's. "Nothing."

"What?" Loki asked, his eyes flicking up from Tony's lips to meet his eye.

"Nothing happened. We were drunk, we went to my room, we made out and during that time we stripped and then after that we just fell asleep. So yeah, nothing happened." Then Tony was gone, back up the corridor to the door of the classroom. "Happy now?" Not waiting for an answer he turned around and walked straight into the room.

Loki sagged against the wall, trying to calm his erratic breathing. So nothing had happened, well nothing serious anyway. That should have been good news and yet Loki couldn't decide whether he was relieved or disappointed. He remembered how he had felt with Tony that close to him only a moment ago. He had to admit he had been slightly uncomfortable but not to the extent where he wished to move away. It was definitely not good that he realised he hadn't pulled away when he thought Tony was going to kiss him.

Shaking his head, he used the heels of his hands to rub his eyes before he took a deep breath and followed Tony back into the classroom.

* * *

As Tony walked away from Loki, he had to fight the urge to turn around, to see the other man looking flushed and so innocent. It's not like Tony hadn't noticed the way he had started to lean into his touches, or the way his breath quickened and his eyes seemed to get a few shades darker as he drew close. This was not good. His plan had been to make Loki uncomfortable, to make him drop his facade, not cause him to respond to Tony's actions in this way.

This would have been Tony's biggest problem, but as he opened the door to the classroom he realised a problem that was by far worse. He hadn't minded being close to Loki. He hadn't minded seeing the other respond in such a way. He had wanted to connect their lips when they were so desperately close. He had even considered it. Okay, this really wasn't good.

Stealing himself, he fixed a wide smile onto his face and once again joined the meeting, acting as though nothing had just happened. Loki appeared about a minute later, with the same passive expression on his face as usual. They didn't argue for the rest of the evening but when their eyes met it was with a different expression than the usual frustration. Both of them were screwed and they knew it.

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed, please favourite, follow and review?! :)_


	6. Chapter 6

_I'm an idiot, I didn't proof read so any mistakes are my own and I'm sorry. Other than that, please enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 6

"No Loki I'm serious, I am not playing Juliet."

Well she was definitely making her point clear, Loki thought as he listened to his friend complain for what felt the like the tenth time that day. It had been two days since the last meeting and ever since Natasha had been constantly reminding him just how much she didn't agree with her casting. He had given up trying to convince her, knowing all of his comforting words and complements would be shot down just like the others. It seemed as though he would just have to sit through all the complaining.

"You are 'Tasha," Loki replied, deliberately shortening her name because he knew how much it irritated her.

As expected, she glared daggers at him before speaking again. "Not if I refuse." He was about to interrupt but she cut him off before he could even open his mouth. "I might even consider quitting the program which is something I don't actually want to do. I want to be a part of it but..."

"You're thinking of quitting?" Loki asked, startled by her admission. "Seriously now, tell me exactly what's going on."

Natasha glanced over her shoulder, making sure no one was eavesdropping. They were in the library which was practically silent besides their hushed conversation in the corner. But with them being the only ones speaking meant it was quite easy to be overheard. Luckily, there was no one else around besides Bruce who sat a few tables away from them with his head buried in some book about different types of radiation. Apparently, from what Loki had overheard, he had a particular interest in the subject.

"Okay I'll tell you," She said, after thoroughly scanning the room first. Her voice dropped even lower in volume as she spoke again. Whether it was to stop people hearing her or whether it was because she was embarrassed Loki didn't know, but he leant in closer anyway eager to hear what she had to say. "But don't even think about laughing," She warned. "Basically, I'm not scared of the acting part or anything, getting up on stage is fine...it's just, god Loki why did you have to pick Barton, of all people, as Romeo?"

"Casting Clint as Romeo? That's your big problem?" Loki asked, stunned and trying to keep a smile from gracing his lips.

She could see he was fighting back a grin so she sent him an unimpressed look. "Yes. He's irritating, he's bigheaded, he's loud, he's got no tact and he's just a downright idiot."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you like him," Loki teased.

"Well obviously you don't know any better because I definitely do not like him. If by mentioning him once means that I like him then it must mean you're totally in love with Stark considering how much you talk about him."

Loki was left gaping at her, unable to think up a witty response to silence her. He was definitely not in love with Tony, he barely even liked him. Only recently had the man even been thought of as tolerable in Loki's book. That was hardly a confession of love. Instead of responding, he just snorted, pretending he found it funny before staring hard at the front cover of his book, unwilling to open it and actually do the work.

They sat in comfortable silence for some time until Natasha breached the topic once again, continuing to insist that she can't play Juliet. In the end, much to Loki's own annoyance, he agreed that she could drop the role but still be involved in the program. The finer details would have to be run over with Tony and Mr Logan but everything should work out okay. Well at least he hoped they would.

The rest of the day was really quite uneventful. The hours passed as they always did, some slower and some faster depending on his level of interest in the lesson. He had psychology again last period and when he entered the room he took his usual seat at the back. Tony arrived not a minute later, chuckling at something Clint had just said to him. They both wandered towards the back but sat in the row just in front of Loki.

As the lesson began, Loki wasn't sure whether the sinking feeling inside his stomach was from that he was disappointed that Tony didn't sit next to him again or for the fact that the teacher was collecting in assignments and he had left his on the table he had been working at in the library. He chose the latter, just because it made more sense and he didn't want to dwell on what it would mean if the feeling had been caused by the first option.

When the teacher asked for his essay, he explained how he had left it in the library. His teacher let out an exasperated sigh but allowed him to leave class to go and look for it. Luckily it was still in the same place he had left it, so he quickly hurried back to class, handing over the paper as he entered before once again taking his seat. Though he put it down to coincidence or the fact that nothing else interesting was happening in the room at the time, but Loki couldn't deny how he saw Tony's eyes follow him both when he left the room and when he re-entered it.

Soon, however, these worrying thoughts were forgotten as the lesson fully began and his mind was distracted by the interesting albeit complicated work set by his teacher. The bell rang for the end of the day and everyone looked up, surprised that an hour had already passed. Still, they soon scrambled from their chairs, shoved their books away and exited to the class before the teacher had time to say they could go.

Loki stood up slower and made his way to the meeting, not seeing the need to hurry. Loud footsteps sounded behind him and then-

"Hello brother, how has your day been so far?" Thor asked jovially.

"It's been fine," Loki replied, now wishing he had walked faster. "And yours?"

"It has been very good so far, thankyou. I finally asked the lady Jane out for dinner this weekend and she accepted my request." He beamed widely at Loki while the other only managing a half smile in return. He really didn't care about Thor's love life all that much.

They arrived at the meeting room at took seats just like normal. Everyone had arrived in the next five minutes which made it easier to get the meeting started. Loki began by explaining that Natasha would no longer be playing Juliet. This announcement received a mixed response but then quiet was restored and everyone just dealt with the news, whether they felt it was fair or unfair, in their own quiet way. The question on everyone's minds now was who would be replacing her.

"That would be Darcy," Loki answered, smiling at her as a wide grin grew on her face.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yes," Loki clarified.

She sat there with the mixed expression of shock and joy.

"Wow thankyou," She said, before turning to Jane with raised eyebrows. Her friend smiled back and they soon fell into deep conversation about the new part she was going to play.

From behind them Natasha mouthed the word thankyou at Loki who nodded back. He allowed his gaze to wander around the room until it settled on Clint who had a rather disgruntled expression on his face. Maybe he was disappointed about the change. Maybe he really wanted Natasha to be his Juliet. At that thought Loki let out a quiet laugh.

"What's so funny?" a voice said from behind him causing him to jump. Turning around he came face to face with Tony.

"Nothing," Loki replied rather coolly.

"Right whatever," Tony shrugged. "So when were you going to tell me you made this decision or is this just a thing that you do when working in a team? You forget about the other group leader and do your own thing?"

"That's not true at all. I merely made the choice after speaking to Natasha and thought it would be better to bring up now rather than go and find you to tell you."

"Okay, fine but remember in future that there is no I in team."

And with that he was gone. Well as gone as you can be when you still have to remain in the same room as eachother. He just walked away, over to Thor and Steve who were discussing sports. Loki remained where he was standing, unsure of what to do. Best just get on with the meeting, he thought, so that is what he did.

An hour and a half later they were free to leave. After extensive run-throughs with the scripts they had all been given the task over the weekend to learn all their lines for Act 1, if they were in Act 1 obviously.

"You two, stay behind for just a second. I need to talk to you."

Mr Logan sounded quite ominous with those words but they stayed behind all the same. It only took another minute for the room to empty; Thor was left outside the door, waiting for his brother to leave.

"So this weekend, tomorrow or Sunday, I don't care which, you two need to meet up and write progress reports for each week so far. I know I haven't told you this before that's why I'm saying to sum up each week rather than write a separate one for each session. It just helps keep track and is needed as proof that you are all actually progressing. Is that okay?"

"Yes," They both said in unison before Tony then said, "What exactly should we say?"

"Just write what we have been doing each time, where we aim to be next session, that sort of thing."

"Okay...bye Sir."

Mr Logan waved an absent goodbye as they left. Loki started off down the corridor, Thor next to him, already attempting to engage him in conversation. For a few seconds Tony watched the blond fail, wondering what exactly he must have done for Loki to shun him so much. Then he realised that they hadn't sorted out details for their meeting.

"Hey wait up," He called, smiling slightly as Thor stopped and turned while Loki carried on as though no one had spoken. This guy really could be a jerk, Tony thought. "Yeah, sorry big guy, not you. I need Loki if he would just stop walking, it will only take a sec." He deliberately spoke loudly so Loki would hear him. The black haired man turned slowly, an unimpressed expression fixed firmly on his face.

"What?" He asked waspishly.

"Mine or yours?"

"What?" He repeated.

"You say that a lot, you know," Tony pointed out. Loki gave him an unimpressed look. God what would it take for this guy to smile. "What I meant was, my house or your house? Where are we gunna do these reports?"

"Which ever you prefer, I don't mind."

"Okay cool, you can come to mine."

Before Loki could protest, Tony grabbed his hand from by his side and withdrew a pen from his pocket. Across the back of his hand, he scrawled his phone number. Then he clicked the pen and smirked at Loki.

"Call me," He whispered, in a mock seductive tone before winking and walking away.

Loki was left stunned in the corridor with Thor staring at him with a 'what the hell just happened' expression. Tony just walked through the school front doors, wondering if Loki's lips twitching had been him fighting to hold back a smile.

* * *

Probably much to Tony's disappointment, Loki didn't call him. Instead he texted late at night, having forgotten to text him sooner, asking what time he should come to his the next day. The reply he received made him roll his eyes, though he was amused none the less.

'_Whenever you want babe.'_

'_Is 11 okay?'_ Loki typed the reply, choosing to ignore Tony's little addition to the end of his message.

'_I'm counting down the minutes already.'_

Loki just shook his head before putting his phone down next to his bed and sliding under the sheets. As soon as his eyes were fully closed he began to drift off to sleep and only awoke when his alarm started blaring the next morning.

Groaning with tiredness, he rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom where he showered, taking his time to scrub himself clean and wash the shampoo out of his hair. Once out from under the warm stream of water, he wrapped a towel around his waist and began to tackle the difficult job that was his hair. It wasn't that he didn't like having long hair. Obviously if he didn't like it then he would cut it. It was more that it took forever to dry and he hated overheating under the uncomfortable warmth of his hairdryer. However, if he didn't use heat, then he was subjected to sitting through a day with his hair all frizzy and, in his own opinion, it really wasn't a very attractive look. And today of all days he didn't want to look stupid. Not that he wanted to impress Tony, he just didn't want the man finding any more reasons to tease him.

When his hair was parted and straight, he left the bathroom, hobbling back to his bedroom before his towel decided to slip from his waist. Searching for clothes was an easy job, pulling out a pair of dark jeans and a shirt from his wardrobe. He then found his school bag and emptied most of its contents before refilling it with the essentials he would need like a pen, paper, a copy of Romeo and Juliet as he was unsure if Tony would have one.

Satisfied that he was almost ready to leave, he headed down the stairs and into the kitchen where his mother was preparing breakfast, humming quietly to herself.

"Morning," She greeted, smiling as Loki grunted in reply, obviously still not happy with being awake this early on a Saturday. It was half nine in the morning which wasn't technically that early but Loki really wasn't a morning person which made the whole situation much worse. "Anything in particular you fancy?"

"Just toast, thankyou," Loki replied, dropping into a seat at the kitchen table, not having the energy to walk all the way through to their actual dining room.

"Thor'll be here in a minute, at least he should be," Frigga said absently, glancing at the clock as she placed a plate full of toast in front of her younger son.

"Why is he getting up so early?"

"Wants to prepare for his date, he told me," She laughed. "He's probably practising what he will say to her in the mirror right now."

"How touching," Loki replied, not even trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

His mother just grumbled at his tone but made no comment. They spent the rest of breakfast in companionable silence until Loki got to his feet and went to brush his teeth. Once finished, he checked the contents of his bag for the second time before saying goodbye to Frigga and heading out the door. The air was warm outside for being late September but it was still refreshing and Loki enjoyed the rather long walk to Tony's house.

He reached his house, or rather mansion, sooner than he had anticipated. Not wanted to seem too eager, he hovered casually outside the gate, staring at his phone screen, pretending to be in a deep conversation with someone. Unfortunately, he had no one to message and so just continuously clicked on and off his messages before he realised he was being stupid. Turning towards Tony's house, he walked up the long front drive to the door.

Seeing there was no doorbell, he rapped lighting on the glass and saw clearly as a man came to answer the door.

"Hello?" He asked.

He had dark skin and wore a smart suit and, on seeing Loki, he fixed a smile onto his face. To Loki he gave a good first impression. The man seemed like a nice person. Well at least he had a sense of style.

"You must be Tony's friend," He said, realisation replacing the confused expression on his face. "He did tell me your name but I can't for the life of me think what it is."

"Loki," Loki said.

"Cool, well I'm James Rhodes or Rhodey and I'm Tony's legal guardian. Oh sorry, please come in," Rhodey said suddenly, gesturing for Loki to come in as he stepped out of the way.

Loki walked inside, his eyes skimming around the large hallway. From where he stood he could see the kitchen on one side and one of the living rooms on the other. He could remember from the party that there wasn't just one, though he couldn't remember everything, he could remember that Tony's house was massive.

"Shit, I mean shoot," Rhodey suddenly muttered. "Sorry, I have to go otherwise I'll be late for work. Tony's down in the garage, just walk straight and take the second door left and you'll find your way." He spoke quickly then paused, trying to think if there was anything else to say. "Oh yeah, just be careful with him today. If he gets a bit funny...well...just watch yourself."

Then he was gone out the door and Loki was left thoroughly confused in the doorway. What had Rhodey meant? Get a bit funny? He assumed that didn't mean actual haha jokes kind of funny. Loki thought he meant funny as in odd. Why would Tony be odd? He was always happy, or smiling, but even when he wasn't smiling, he wasn't sad. Come to think of it, for the weeks Loki had known him, he had never seen Tony have an expression that was anything below neutral or passive. Even when he was deliberately annoying him or they were arguing, Tony never actually seemed really pissed off. He always took everything as a joke.

Still puzzling over Rhodey's words, Loki followed his instructions, stepping further into the house and following the directions that he had said. As he walked, he took his time to take in all the other surrounding rooms that he could see through the open doors. Everything was clean and tidy, nothing was out of place, yet it didn't fell over-clean, like when you touched something and needed to scrub it clean of any germs afterwards. There just wasn't that feeling. He didn't feel tense or uncomfortable, he felt more at ease. The house gave off a sense of calm.

Snorting to himself at how stupid that sounded in his head, Loki pushed open the door that apparently led to the garage where Tony would be. As he neared another door he began to hear the faint sound of music, but as get got closer the volume increased quickly until he could barely think over the noise.

Hurrying through the door, he was surprised to find himself in a very large room which was indeed a garage yet was filled with other stuff that didn't even relate to cars at all. His brain couldn't really take it in though because of the still blaring music. Turning to his side, Loki saw two large speakers with a phone plugged in to them. Without another thought, Loki pulled out the cable connecting them and breathed a sigh of relief as the music finally stopped playing.

Now able to think, he shifted so his back was to the speakers so he could finally take in the contents of the room surrounding him and the only other occupant. Tony.

* * *

_I know, this chapter wasn't the most interesting but this needed to happen in order to set up the next one. Stay tuned and please review?! :)_


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